Travel chaos as floods cut off Masaka-Kampala road

By Monitor Team

Public commuter taxis plying the Kampala –Masaka highway yesterday raised transport fares due to rising water levels at River Katonga Bridge, which led to a diversion of traffic on the busy highway.
Traffic on the highway was yesterday paralysed after flash floods submerged River Katonga Bridge in Mpigi District, covering a section of about 200 metres of the road.

The fast-moving flood waters also reclaimed part of the site near the bridge where the Uganda People’s Defence Forces plans to erect a multibillion army museum.
All motorists taking the route either from Masaka side or Kampala are currently required to use the Mpigi-Kanoni- Sembabule –Villa Maria-Masaka Road, making the journey longer by 56km and costing more fuel.
“We had no option, but to raise the fares, but when water subsides at Katonga Bridge we will definitely revert to the old fares,” Mr Bosco Bukenya, the chairperson of Masaka Taxi Drivers and Conductors Association, said. Read more